Official: Balde opts for surgery and says goodbye to the season

Alejandro Balde has finally accepted the advice of the doctors who assure that surgery is the best option to solve the player’s detached proximal tendon affecting his right hamstring. Despite the initial reluctance of the young defender, who saw his participation at Euro 2024 in jeopardy, he ended up agreeing to take this step, aware that he still has a very long career ahead of him and that he cannot put it in danger at the first hurdle. Also, the example of Ansu Fati, who still cannot escape the spiral of hamstring injuries after refusing to go under the knife, served as a stimulus for him to discard the conservative treatment route.

In the report issued this afternoon by Barça’s medical services, it was specified that the operation will be carried out by Finnish specialist Lasse Lampainen. Balde will travel to the Finnish town of Turku, where the renowned surgeon has his clinic, in the company of first team doctor, Ricard Pruna, who will supervise the intervention, at the beginning of next week.

Season over

Although it will not be until after the operation that a better prognosis can be made, the minimum recovery time for this type of injury is usually around four months. That means that Balde has said goodbye to the season, joining Gavi, who is recovering from a serious cruciate injury, on the sidelines.

With Balde out, Barcelona have no one to man the left wing. Marcos Alonso also underwent surgery, in his case to resolve an issue with his low back. So Xavi will have to turn to João Cancelo, coming back from a knee injury, to switch over to the other side. He has already played on the left this season and performed well there. Another solution would be to draft in 17-year-old Héctor Fort who, despite also being a right-back, has adapted well to playing on the left.